NAROWAL: A dedicated ward for the transgender people has been set up at the Narowal District Headquarters Hospital.

The transgender community will be able to get free health care at the hospital, District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Khalid Javed said on Friday.

He said the medical ward consisted of five beds where facilities, such as medicine and surgery, would be provided free of cost to the patients.

He said paramedics had been trained so that the transgender people could be treated in safe environment and in a respectful manner.

Shehzadi Sana and Nasreen said whenever they go to a market, bazaar or a hospital, people harass and pester them.

She said there are 169 transgender people in Narowal district, who whenever fall sick or suffer a serious illness, no government or private hospital admits them. Doctors and paramedical staff insult them at public hospitals, whereas private hospitals take advantage of the compulsion of transgender people and demand huge fees.

Transgender people thanked the Punjab government for taking the step for their health. They said there was no other health facility for transgenders in Punjab and any other district of Pakistan.

Deputy Commissioner Nabila Irfan said basic health care was a basic right of every citizen of Pakistan.

“We will provide all health facilities to transgenders in a dignified manner,” she said.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2021